Circuit closer



Sept. 13, 1938. 5. J. POLTA ET AL CIRCUIT CLOSE R,

Filed Aug. 17, 1936 Lsg zpaJfozm,

Eng V1102;

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT ol-"rlca CIRCUITCLOSER, v

Sylvan J. Polta and Henry V. Hols, Sandusky,

. Ohio Application August 17, 1936, Serial No. 96,504

1 Claim. (Cl: 20056) This invention relates to circuit closers and it,this slot being equal in length to a plurality has for an object acircuit closer for a signal of the numbers on the reel, for instance,equal in '.device operable by certain of the reels of speedlength tofive numbers. The purpose of the difometer to remind-a motor vehicledriver at the ference in length of these slots is to permit the 5 end ofa predetermined period, for example, each circuit closer, in circuitclosing position, to mainr 1,000 or 2,000 miles that the oil should bechanged tain the signal circuit closed for a predetermined and thechassis lubricated. time period, such as for example, in the present Afurther object is to provide a device of this instance, fifty milessince the long slot correcharacter which will embody a novel circuitsponds in length of five numbers on the tens l0 closer including fingersengageable in grooves in reel. i k 1n the periphery of two reels of thespeedometer to ,The circuit closer comprises a base l8 of nonclose acircuit to a signal lamp at the end of a conducting material which isprovided with an predetermined mileage period. angle bracket l9 that maybe bolted as shown A further object is to provide a device of this at 20to the ledge 2i of the instrument board 22 character which will beformed of a few'strong underneath the speedometer reels. The base 15simple and durable parts, which will be inexpenprojects through thespeedometer casing and a sive to manufacture, and which will not easilyswitch contact 23 is secured to the upper end of get out of order. thebase by a binding. post 24 to which a con- With the above and otherobjects in view the ductor wire 25 is secured. The conductor wireinvention consists of certain novel details of consupplies current fromthe battery 26 to a signal .30 struction and combinations of partshereinafter lamp 21 mounted on the instrument board. Flow fullydescribed and claimed, it being understood or current from the batteryto the wire is conthat various modifications may be resorted to trolledby the ignition switch 28 as best shown within the scope of the appendedclaim within Figure 5. 25 out departing from the spirit or sacrificingany of A lever 29, formed of sheet metal, is provided 25 the advantagesof the invention. I on one side with hinge ears 30 through which and Inthe accompanying drawing forming part similar hinge ears 3|, riveted tothe base as of this specification, shown at 32, a pivot pin 33 ispassed, to pivotally Figure 1 is a front elevation of a circuit closermount the lever between its ends on the base. 30 for a signalconstructed in accordance with the The hinge ears are elongated toprovide parallel 30 invention. fingers 34 and 35 which are of equallength as Figure 2 is an edge elevation of the circuit best shown inFigure 1, and terminate in rounded closer in open circuit position.extremities 36 as best shown in Figures 2 and 4. Figure 3 is alongitudinal sectional view Between the fingers the lever is deformed to35 through the circuit closer in circuit closing posiprovide a switchcontact 21 best shown in Fig- 35 tion. ures 2 and 3, which extendssubstantially at a Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view showing rightangle to the lever and is adapted to engage one finger oi the circuitcloser in a short slot in the stationary, switch contact 23 on the basel8 one of the counting reels when the circuit closer to close the signalcircuit when the fingers drop 40 is in circuit closing position. intothe slots in the speedometer reels. 40

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the A helical spring 38 isinterposed between the electrical connections of the device. anglebracket l9 and that end of the lever oppo- Referring nowto the drawingin which like site the fingers. The spring exerts a pressure charactersof reference designate similar parts upon the lever to maintain thefingers in wiping in the various views, l0 designates a speedometercontact with the peripheries of the reels l3 and 45 having the usualcounting reel ll denoting ten l4 and urge the rounded extremities of theof thouands, l2 denoting thousands, i3 denoting fingers to the bottom ofthe slots l6 and II when one hundreds, ll denoting tens, and i5 denotingboth slots advance simultaneously underneath mile units, each reel beingactuated a step at the extremities of the fingers. the end of eachcomplete revolution of the next A lamp housing 39 is disposed on theinstru- 50 adjacent reel to the right. ment board 22 and is providedwith a glass clo- In carrying out the invention a short slot it sure 40which displays. the legend Oil change is formed in the periphery of thereel IS, the grease" which when illuminated by the signal slot beingequal in length to one of the numbers lamp will remind the driver tochange the oil on the reel. A long slot i1 is formed in the reel andlubricate the chassis. 55

that is, the unit reel I5 is in position to start In this posi-- counton the next -1,000 miles. tion of the parts it will be seen that thelever 29 has been rocked by its controlling spring 33 to engage bothfingers 34 and 35 in the short slot l6 and long slot l1 and close thesignal circuit at the switch contacts 31 and 23 as shown in Figure 3.Since the long slot I1 is equal in length to the length of the numeralslto 5 on the tens reel- H the finger 35 will ride in the long slotthrough a time interval equal to a distance of 50 miles indicated by thetens reel. It is, of course, obvious that the one hundreds reel l3 willnot move until the tens reel completes a revolution so that the onehundreds reel remains stationary and the finger 35 remains seated in theshort slot l6 thereof while the tens reel H is making one half acomplete revolution and advancing the long slot ll past the finger 35seatedtherein. When the tens reel 14 has turned to indicate 50 miles theend of the long slot will have arrived at the finger 35 and swung thelever against the tension of its controlling spring 38 thus moving theswitch contact 31 out of contact with the stationary switch cont-act 23and breaking the signal circuit. Thus the signal lamp will be energizedfor a time period equal to 50 miles travel of the vehicle so that thedriver will have plenty of time to arrive at a greasing station.

The slots l6 and H may be in practice disposed at different places onthe reels than as above described, depending upon whether the ownerdesires to have the signal displayed at the end of even thousands or atother points on the reel. Moreover, the length of the long slot may bevaried at will to suit the desire of the 'owner, forexample, if the slotis the length of five numbers the signal will be energized for 50 miles,but if the length of the slot were equal to two numbers the signal wouldremain energized for 20 miles.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation.

What is claimed is:

A circuit closer comprising a speedometer including a tens counting reeland a hundreds counting reel, the hundreds counting reel having a shortslot equal in length to the length of one of the numerals on the reel,the tens counting reel having a long slot equal in length to the spaceoccupied by a plurality of numbers thereon, a support, a circuit closingswitch contact lever hinged intermediate its ends on said support andhaving integral parallel fingers of equal length terminating in roundedextremities,

a spring confined under tension between said support and the end of' thelever opposite the fingers and tending constantly to hold said roundedends riding on the reels and urging the rounded ends on the bottom ofrespective ones of the slots when both slots advance simultaneouslyunderneath the extremities of the fingers, said lever having a portionextending between the fingers and angularly disposed with respect to thelever to form a movable switch contact, and a fixed switch contact onsaid sup port engageable by said movable switch contact when saidrounded extremities drop intov said slots to close said signalcircuitfor a time period corresponding to the length of said long slot in thehundreds counting reel.

SYLVAN J. POL-TA. HENRY v. HOLZ.

